Car Masters: Rust to Riches (2018) s01e02 Episode Script
Green Is the New Black
1
Oh, here we go.
[Mark] Here’s our new toy.
[Caveman] Wait a second.
You said you were bringing a truck back.
That is a truck.
Fleetside short bed, Chevy truck.
It’s all there.
Most of it. I think.
-Where?
-I don’t know.
-Here, there.
-And everywhere. Yeah.
I feel like you have a bad habit
of bringing back half cars.
[Mark] I take away shiny [bleep]
and bring back turds, right? We did all that hard work on the T-Bird.
And now you’re gonna do all that same
amount of hard work on this. Exactly.
It’s not, “Here’s a beautiful car.
We’re gonna flip it.”
That doesn’t work. What do you make,
a grand off of that deal? Two grand?
There’s close to 40 grand in parts
sitting there.
These guys are all bitchin’ and moanin’
right now
because we just traded
a badass ’64 Thunderbird…
that was totally custom in chrome
for a bunch of parts.
But this bucket of bolts
is a ’70 Fleetside Chevy truck.
These trucks right now
are so hot on the market it’s ridiculous.
It’s worth twice as much
as that Thunderbird could ever be worth.
We’re talkin’ north of 70 grand.
It’s what we do. We keep trading
until we cash out at the top.
We’re gonna continue following
our upgrade-and-trade business model
-with the Fleetside.
-[cash register dings]
Once we get it fixed up,
we’re gonna trade it
for a 1939 Zephyr body, a very rare car.
We’re gonna sell that car,
hopefully, six figures.
[cash register dings]
[Tony] I guess we gotta figure out
what we have and don’t have.
Well,
herein lies the next little fun game.
I do not wanna figure out
where all these parts go,
nor do I wanna unload them.
I guess the only way to do this
is we’ll just go “rock, paper, scissors,”
and the loser gets to work, and the
rest of us make room for the new project.
Everybody good with that? Ready?
One, two, three.
-[all laughing]
-You lose.
-Wait. Doesn’t rock crush paper?
-No.
-Sorry, buddy.
-Paper covers rock, bro.
That’s what happens when you’re a caveman.
Everybody knows
you’re gonna throw a friggin’ rock.
[laughing]
-We’ll talk to you later.
-Wait a second.
-Really?
-Yeah.
I thought we were a team here!
Thought it was a team effort!
[Mark] You’re the only “I” in team.
[power tools buzz]
[machinery rivets] [engine starts]
It came with this.
Y’all better get to work.
I better get to work.
-I’m out.
-[all laughing]
It’s my job to organize this jigsaw puzzle
in this sea of parts.
I’ve got a badass intake.
Yeah, that is badass.
Whenever you lose in this shop
at “roshambo,”
you know people are gonna ride you like a
donkey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
That’s just how it works here.
Ten, 11, 12…
-Thirty-two.
-Fifteen.
-…thirteen, fourteen…
-Eleven.
-…fifteen.
-Fourteen.
Picture a tornado, and that’s Caveman,
and that’s how he’s gonna go through
these parts, like a friggin’ tornado.
I thought it had a stereo.
Put the stereo back
with the rest of the parts.
What stereo? It’s just a box.
[alarm blares]
[Mark laughing]
[Constance] False alarm. Don’t worry.
Caveman, are you gonna practice
your “rock, paper, scissors” now?
Why?
You know there’s other ones besides rock.
I know. It should be “club.”
So, Caveman,
are you done with that parts list?
-Yeah, I’m all done. I got it all done.
-All right.
Shawn already has somebody on the hook
for the truck.
We wanna trade it for a Zephyr.
And you know how hard Zephyrs are to find.
We all know that that’s like the,
whoo-hoo, Holy Grail of hot rods.
What makes the Zephyr so desirable is
it’s a pre-World War II car.
Hardly any of those survived. It’s exquisite, it’s timeless.
Everything about that car
looks like artwork.
It is the quintessential hot rod.
This car will get us to the massive payday
that we’re looking for.
So, basically,
we got this truck from this guy.
It’s already set up
to be a Pro-Touring truck.
I think on this build,
just because Tony’s a truck guy,
I’m just gonna let him
take the lead on it.
So it’s your baby.
-I like the way that sounds.
-He lights up when you say that.
I really love these Pro-Touring trucks.
It’s basically a sports car underneath
with the look and feel of a classic truck
on the outside.
I will give you
quite a bit of creative freedom.
You’ll be able to do little “Tony-isms.”
There’s a market for this truck.
Right now that market is at its peak.
To get the most value
out of this truck right now in a trade,
it has to be done
the way that world loves that truck.
They have to be very
what they call “sano,”
just sanitary all the way down the side.
Tony is really good
at this type of precision build.
So I’m gonna let him give it that
clean build, but I’m still gonna supervise
to make sure that it has some
subtle Gotham Garage touches,
’cause nothing leaves this shop
without my stamp on it.
You gotta stay within my budget.
-Yeah, I knew that was comin’.
-Yeah.
That’s all right. We always have a budget.
Yeah, and you still gotta come to me
to get money out of my wallet.
[laughing]
Well, let’s just grab all the boxes
and put ’em in the back room.
I want this somewhere safe.
Another shop would take this Fleetside
and just build a generic truck.
They’re gonna open the catalog
and they’re gonna order the same pieces,
the same parts that everyone else has.
That’s not what we do
here at Gotham Garage.
Every vehicle is one-off,
it’s custom, and it’s unique.
And that, in turn, increases the value.
[imitates engine sounds]
[Tony] Hey, you look good in that thing.
I gotta roll it up for air conditioning.
Ah [bleep] The handle fell off.
[Caveman] We’ll walk it this way,
maybe lay it down.
[Tony] That end goes to the cab.
-All right. That was easy.
-It does look better already.
-Yeah.
-Just having a bed on it.
-Those wheels gotta go.
-They look so funny in there.
[Caveman] How about the next big piece?
This Fleetside has to come out amazing.
It’s gotta be worth
at least about 70 grand
to trade up to the Zephyr.
That’s our next tier.
That’s where we have to get to.
[tool buzzing]
Mark gave me a budget of 16,000
for this truck.
[Constance] Now what are you wanting?
We have all that pile of sheet metal stuff
to figure out.
But before I can come up with my vision,
I have to piece it together
and see what we’re working with.
-If we only had some instructions.
-It says “Remove.”
We got one note with the whole project:
“Remove.”
Constance, grab that intake
and see what this looks like.
I thought you’d never ask.
I don’t wanna fail Mark or fail the team,
so I’m feeling the pressure,
and I need to come through for everybody.
[humming Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus”]
[Caveman] She’s getting married.
There’s her ring.
It would just be a shame
to cover all this up.
[Tony] Have to work on some ideas.
Let’s grab that hood
and see what it looks like on here.
-[Caveman] All right, well--
-All right.
What’s the point?
This all needs to go.
[Tony] I think I get it now, you know?
It’s all coming together.
I’m starting to see the vision.
Constance made me realize that the engine
is really like a piece of jewelry.
And the hood,
it should be like a showcase.
We’re gonna cut into the hood
to show off the velocity stacks
in that killer engine department.
And then complement that engine
with other subtle but unique touches
throughout,
like custom mirrors, grille,
seats, and dashboard.
And because it’ll be a badass Pro-Touring
truck, it’ll drive like a race car,
but on the inside we’ll give it
all the modern convenience
of a high-end luxury car.
Hey, as long as you open this up,
I’ll be happy.
It’s like opening a jewelry box.
-You gotta be able to see it.
-Yep.
So I guess from here
we just have to run it by Mark
and try to get his credit card number.
[all laughing]
Let us know how that goes.
Yeah.
You know that wallet’s on a chain, right?
We’re in the middle of the trade cycle
and it’s going to be a few months
before we see a six-figure payday.
So we’re gonna need a quick-flip car so
we can get some cash flow into the shop.
Yeah, I’ve got a--
I’ve got a line on a ’33 Ford Vicky.
Is it a replica?
-It is-- Like we’re gonna buy a real one.
-[Mark laughs]
That’s why I was asking. I’m, like, what?
These upgrade-and-trade projects
can take up to a few months to pan out.
That’s why we do these smaller projects
that we can sell for cash.
It’s cheap
and it’s something we could flip
really quick without doing a ton of work.
It doesn’t tie you up too much
in the shop.
Pay a few bills,
and put some cash in everybody’s pocket.
You’re sure you can
get rid of it pretty quick?
Of course. You put a spin on it.
I mean, not like it is.
Nobody wants it like it is.
But I’ve got a guy that wants an awesome
hot rod from us, and he wants it soon.
Why don’t I talk to this guy
about the Vicky.
-The guy’s not far from here.
-What are you waiting for?
-All right, let’s go. I’ll lead the way.
-Move it, move it.
You might need your phone
if you’re gonna call him.
-That’s not my phone.
-That’s not.
Whose phone is that?
I wonder if it’s got pictures on it.
We’re going see whose phone it is
and what pictures are on it.
[Shawn] It’s my phone.
And I got pictures of your mom on there.
[Mark laughs]
[Mark] So with this Vicky replica build,
if we can get it for about 13K
and put a little bit of work into it,
and then flip it for somewhere
between $27,000 and $30,000,
that’ll be a really good deal.
I’m thinking, if he’s calling me on this,
there’s a good chance that
he’s hurtin’ for a couple of bills.
Well, that’s a plus.
Let’s just say
he’s not in love with Vicky.
[laughs]
[Shawn] A ’33 Ford Vicky replica.
Yes, not the most desirable car
in the world,
but I guess it was at one time.
Yeah, in the early ’90s.
’90, ’92, ’95, somewhere around there.
But then they just got all played out
and disappeared into the woodwork.
-[Mark] How you doing?
-[Shawn] What’s going on?
-[Jack] You guys made it okay?
-Yeah, yeah.
I like what you’ve done with the place.
Here’s my buddy Mark.
-How you doin’?
-How you doin’?
I told him you have
a little something special.
I do. I got it back here
to keep it out of the dust.
-Uh-oh. Here we go.
-There we go. -[Shawn] It looks beautiful. Man.
-[Jack] It’s not too bad.
For a glass car, it’s pretty good.
[Mark] What kind of Chevy motor is that?
-350?
-I believe it’s supposed to be an LT1.
-What kind of tranny?
-I got a 350 turbo.
-Oh, yeah?
-[Shawn] It does run, right?
-Yes.
I see it’s got a battery and a key.
Can I hear it run?
-Wanna fire it up?
-He knows exactly to do with that.
-[Shawn] Okay, let’s--
-Make sure it’s in park, please.
-I don’t want to get run over.
-Brace yourself.
[engine starts]
[Shawn] Oh, my God. It does run.
[Mark] Doesn’t sound too bad.
[Shawn]
When we’re buying a car like the Vicky,
we consider what condition it’s in now
and where we can go with it.
If this was an original Vicky,
people would be all over it.
But it’s a replica and they
made a ton of them in the ’90s,
so they’re a dime a dozen.
But if Mark sees something in a car
that sparks his imagination,
our garage will bend and twist that ride
into something so amazing,
it’ll make your head spin.
Is it like a hairpin rear-end
underneath it?
-I think it’s an A-bar.
-I’ll let him climb under.
You’ll let me get dirty?
The dirtiest Shawn gets is a martini.
This is perfect.
For your shenanigans, this is perfect.
[Shawn] Oh, come on, Jack.
So we talked a little bit on the phone,
and now you wanna try to sell me
this thing for how much again?
I’m asking 15,000.
Yeah, right. Now he thinks
he’s got something valuable here.
Let’s be honest. This is
an eight-grand car. You know that.
Real pretty, but still not enough
to make me want to let it leave.
Let’s cut to it. I’ll go 9,500.
That’s all I’m going.
[Jack] Eleven’s a good deal.
That’s a smokin’ deal.
That’s actually pushing the limits
of where I’m in it, so--
-I’m done.
-No, no, no. Come on.
Jack, you got a deal. Wait. Wait, no, don’t!
I like that. That hand coming across.
I’m good.
You know, eleven wasn’t that bad.
I’m sure we could have had it for ten.
-Ten would have been nice.
-But it still works within our budget.
It totally works for what we need.
We can still flip it.
Maybe we’ll get the grand back
on the back end.
Well, that’s your job.
We’ll send a tow truck to pick it up.
So when they show up, they’ll hook it.
And, Shawn, let’s get back to the shop
and check on the Fleetside.
Thank you, Jack!
So, this is a big-money truck,
and it’s gotta look like big money.
What I’d like to do is cut this hole out
with a piece of Plexiglas underneath,
so you could drive in the rain
or any bad weather, snow.
Nothing will get in there,
but you can still see it.
This Fleetside came with an LS motor
that’s basically complete.
It’s together, it’s ready to run,
so Constance doesn’t really have
a lot of motor work to do on this build.
But there’s a lot of fab work.
We have to build an entire truck.
And that’s what’s great about this shop.
Everybody is very versatile.
Nobody just does one thing.
[motor whirring]
-Perfect.
-Winner, winner.
-It’s a little scary.
-I don’t think so.
[Tony] I mean, there’s no turning back.
Eight holes.
That’s what we’ve done all morning?
Eight perfectly cut-out holes
by yours truly.
No, this is just the beginning.
We’ve got a whole plan here.
That one’s crooked.
I think you’re gonna like it
once it’s all straightened out
and you see the whole plan come together.
This is the most important build
in this shop.
It is our trade-up vehicle.
There’s no reason why this Fleetside build
should go over 16,000.
We have all the parts in the building,
so I’ll be keeping my eye on Tony.
I’ll do it in a pleasant, fun way.
Don’t [bleep] it up.
-Oh, man.
-What?
I’m nervous now.
[whirring]
[Constance] The motor in this Fleetside
is just so badass.
It needs to be shown off.
And I think that putting these holes
in the hood are going to make that happen.
-[Constance] Not too bad, right?
-[Tony] Not too bad.
So do you want me
to let you take this over?
No. You did the first one good.
You’re in the groove.
-But then we can see whose is better.
-You’re in the zone.
All right. I’ll show you how to do it.
Just a little friendly competition,
you know.
-I mean, I don’t know.
-You’re faster than me, Constance.
-There’s no doubt about that.
-Yeah.
But I’m like King Arthur.
This is my Excalibur.
Mine’s good. I mean,
look at how straight these lines are.
-Hey, Caveman!
-Hey, Mark, Caveman!
[Tony]
We got a little bet we have to settle.
[Constance] We’re just wondering
which cutout is better.
-The one on the right.
-This one.
Get outta here!
[Mark laughing]
I’m gonna stay up all night
and I’m just gonna practice my cuts.
Sorry, man.
You’re a pro.
Maybe I should take up motors.
[horn honks]
Hey, Caveman and Tony!
[Tony] All right, back to work, dude.
-Let’s go see what he brought.
-I like that. That’s pretty clean.
Right?
Yeah!
A Vicky.
Even though it’s fiberglass,
it’s pretty cool.
It doesn’t sound like we gotta rebuild
engines and transmissions and…
-[Mark] No. No.
-…mechanical.
[Mark] We’re gonna take 1990’s
right off of it.
I wanna do that cartoon thing to it.
Like gigantic wheels in the back,
little wheels up front.
Give it a big rake,
kick the front end way out on it.
I would like the axle to be in front
of this stress bar up here.
And then this stuff?
We’re just gonna take it off.
-[Caveman] Take it off?
-This goes away.
-Strip it.
-Less is more.
I want to knock off all of the ugly
and get it down to the hot rod that it is.
That in turn will make that car
worth about 27 to 30 grand.
It’s got a lot of potential
with doing just a little bit of stuff.
-Nice. I like it, man.
-Yeah.
You guys get a short little break
from the monster over there. And just get this together,
and let’s get on it and get it done
-and get back on the monster.
-All right.
-All right, Caveman.
-Let’s get it done.
[Mark]
Why we’re stretching the front end out
is because we want to
over-accentuate the lines of the car.
And basically, this is what high heels
do for women and their legs.
So we’ve giving Vicky
some high heels right now.
That area was here.
It needs to be up here.
So any other shop is gonna have to go
and order a standard plate kit.
I’m fortunate because one of
the tools in my toolbox is Tony.
All I have to do is tell him
go make me this.
I don’t have to worry
about what it’s gonna look like.
He’s gonna bring something that came
out of his mind that’s gonna be badass.
[Tony]
I’m one of the tools in your toolbox?
-[Mark] You’re a [bleep] tool.
-I’m not sure that sounded right.
-[man laughing]
-What would you like me to call you?
I want a shirt that has a box
that says “Mark’s Toolbox,”
and then it says “me.”
And then it says “me.” [laughs]
-It’s a little funky looking.
-Yeah.
It’s on.
[tools buzzing]
You guys haven’t seen these yet.
Wait till you see these things.
[groans]
-That looks good.
-That looks pretty badass.
That’s a nice looking wheel.
It’s not a traditional wheel
for this style car or this year car.
-Nope. I’m liking it.
-It’s got a good bold look.
[Tony] Oh, damn!
[Caveman] Whoa!
-How cool is that?
-Damn!
-This is like a steamroller.
-Yeah, it’s--
Wow!
That’s about right where it will sit
ride-height.
I can see the frame,
and it’s below the center of the wheel.
And that’s not good.
I thought this was gonna be an easy one.
Yeah, well, the whole rear end
of the frame needs to be remade.
I just found out that
the oversized wheels that I ordered
make the rear end actually
have to move above the frame
in order for them to work.
Well, you can’t put the axle
above the frame,
so now I have to make the frame
go up about 14 inches,
hoop over and come back down,
which means now I get to fabricate
the entire back half of this frame.
Oh, man. What a nightmare.
So the plan for Vicky in the beginning
was just to make it a modern-day hot rod.
And now, apparently, Vicky decided
that she needed high heels, stockings,
a push-up bra and a boob job.
So basically, in a nutshell,
this has to go here.
-I see a couple things in the way.
-You think?
I’m gonna cut all this out of the way.
And then we can just cut the frame
and the frame,
and then just jam it up
till it’s at the right height.
-Dead center, where it is.
-Yeah.
I guess it’s Sawzall time.
We could ratchet this thing up.
Look at you with your little physics
and your engineering degree
coming to play.
No, man, that’s laziness.
That’s sheer laziness.
[Tony] Mark generally doesn’t compromise
on his vision.
Unfortunately,
this time the 24’s don’t just fit.
This is going to be a lot of extra
sweat equity to make this work.
[Mark] It takes months for
this business model to come to fruition
from when we start to where we end.
We don’t get a big payday until
we get our hands on that six-figure car.
Every minute, every hour,
every day we put into this flip
pushes that Fleetside down the line,
which, in turn,
pushes everything down the line.
-That is so badass.
-I know it is. It’s pretty badass.
[Mark] I’m pretty convinced still
in my mind that this is a solid flip.
I will make more money than I would have
if I wouldn’t have done this, but that’s offset by how much money
I spent on the wheels and tires,
and how much more time it’s taken
to fabricate all of this.
At the end we’ll still get the money
to dump back into the Fleetside
and pay bills around the shop.
Good thing the back windows
don’t roll down
’cause some idiot would put
his arm out there and go--
Yeah. Huh?
Each engine is unique
to whatever build we’re doing.
It’s not always about, you know,
well, how fast can we go?
Well, that works for some builds,
and for other builds
you want just a badass street car.
For this particular build, the engine’s
really the heart and soul of the vehicle
just sitting wide open
for everyone to be able to see.
You can see all the cool copper tubing
that’s happening.
The dual carb set up
is like right there in your face.
The motor for this build I think is
really the centerpiece of the entire car.
[engine revving]
-It actually runs really well.
-Why, thank you.
Too much money got spent on it,
but if I paint it,
it’ll be at the number
it was supposed to be.
What was the final color decision
for this vehicle?
It’s satin black
with a little bit of silver in it.
Oh, okay.
[engine starts]
[Mark] All cars have a way to talk to me.
Um, it’s a not a voice in my head.
It’s just an overwhelming feeling I get
when I’m looking at the car
or I’m driving in the car.
I’m going over in my mind,
what color should I paint it?
What kind of wheels should I put on it?
What’s gonna look the best?
It really is, do I hear a little voice?
No.
But do I know what the car wants to be?
Yes.
Will the car change my mind? Yes.
[Mark whistling]
This is what happens
when you forget the door handles.
-You stuck?
-Hey, can I get out?
-Can I get out? What’s up, brother?
-What is this?
I forgot to put the door handles
on the inside.
-You get all your paint?
-I got all my materials.
But on the way up here I was thinking,
I don’t want to do it flat black.
-No?
-Nope. I want to do green.
-Really?
-And I’m hoping you have some green.
-I have everything here.
-I know you do.
You pretty much have
everything underneath the sun in here.
Pete is the best painter that I know of.
Pete will do anything for Gotham Garage.
He’ll let me borrow his booth when
I need to just do a quick, fast paint job.
Pete’s just that guy.
He’s just a down-to-earth car guy.
-What kind of green?
-Green, green, green.
Like this, the antifreeze green
that’s in this bottle up here.
Uh-huh.
-Like that, but a little darker.
-Right on.
-Guide you in?
-Yeah. I have no mirrors.
-So, it’s just…
-Wah, wah, wah.
…wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Yeah.
[engine starts]
For the grille of the Fleetside,
I wanted to do something real unique.
It’s a little twist
on your standard hex pattern.
-It’s kind of like barbed wire.
-This is nice.
It’s a lot sharper, a little wicked. It’s
definitely got that Gotham Garage touch.
Gonna have to bend this.
[Tony] We’re gonna go ten degrees.
It’s so sharp, I feel like
it’s slicing right through my fingers.
Usually tiny, little slivers like that
don’t like to bend.
All right, ready?
Stop. That’s it.
Those little pieces didn’t do bad.
It’s crazy when Tony does stuff like this
’cause he literally just
fabricates stuff out of nothing.
Go to the car show, you’re never gonna see
another truck that has this same grille.
For the grille, I left a big section to do
a badass Gotham Garage emblem.
With the hood scoop, I think
this whole front end is just-- It pops.
These are the little things, the details
that’s gonna maximize our dollar value
out of the Fleetside.
[engine revving]
[engine revs]
-Whoa.
-Wow. [laughs]
[Caveman] Did not expect that color.
[Mark] Is that better than black, or what?
[Tony] No. Absolutely not. Yeah.
[Constance]
It looks just like mint ice cream.
-Yes.
-It does.
That could not be any louder.
No, it doesn’t get any brighter
than green.
-Copper and green.
-Color of money.
[Tony] That was a bold move, sir.
Bold move.
Yeah.
I figured, hey, it’s a hit or miss, right?
[Tony] This happens sometimes. We’re
in a build and then Mark will go rogue.
And [whistles] different direction.
I don’t know. Sometimes these colors
really narrow down your buyers.
That’ll be interesting to see Shawn’s face
because--
-He probably already told him flat black.
-Yeah.
-“Hi. I got a car.”
-Right?
He’s gonna have a heart attack
when he walks in. I know. He is gonna [bleep] his pants.
[Mark] I know that Shawn told the buyer
that the car was gonna be black.
I fully intended on painting it black
until I went into the paint store
and Vicky said, “green.”
I think that’s an asset.
If the car tells me what it wants to be,
I make it happen.
Hey, Shawn, get out here!
-[Tony] What’s up, buddy?
-[Mark] What’s up, buddy?
The last time I saw this--
[all laughing]
[Mark] He’s pretty dumbfounded.
That is, uh…
-Quite the paint job.
-…not black.
-No, it is not black.
-[Caveman] You’re observant.
-[Mark] No.
-[Shawn] That is green!
-[Mark] That is green.
-[Caveman] No, satin green.
So I’ve got somebody lined up
for a black Vicky. Period.
And for him to actually change up
the color this late in the game,
I mean, that frosts my nuts,
to tell you the truth.
I don’t know if my man John’s
gonna go for that.
If you tell him, “Look, it’s a different
color. It’s not satin black.
But I believe the color that it is, you’re
going to fall in love when you see it.”
You can use that line verbatim.
We’re just gonna have to get him down here
and sell him on it.
That’s all I can say.
[Mark] Vicky was supposed to be
just a quick flip.
Unfortunately, she started talking to me.
She said, “Take me to the dance, make me
be the one everybody wants to dance with.”
It was, put her high heels on.
Twenty-inch front wheels.
That’s a big rim, but they’re dwarfed
by the 24’s in the back.
Next, you gotta give her jewelry.
We put in a high-rise intake manifold
with two carburetors
and a giant shotgun air cleaner
on the top.
Copper on the roof, on the back,
on the front, on the motor.
The overflow is a tequila bottle
so that you can actually see
the green radiator fluid through it.
That’s when I decided
Vicky needed a green dress.
I know when she walks in that door,
every man in the building,
their jaw’s gonna hit the floor.
Bare minimum, we have to get
33 grand to cover all of our expenses
and have enough profit
to get across the finish line.
-[Shawn] Here he is, here.
-[Mark] Oh, there he is. Look at him.
-He’s already in a Ford.
-Oh, yeah.
I notice the car.
It has a little green tint to it.
-Does got a little green tint.
-Got a little green tint.
John. How’s it going?
-Good to see you again, man.
-John, I’m Mark.
-Pleasure to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too.
[Mark] I’m digging your sled.
That’s a frickin’ beautiful car.
-Thank you. ’39 coupe.
-Yeah. That’s a pretty badass ride.
-Got a hint of green in there.
-It does have a little tinge of green.
It looks pretty champagne,
but we’ll see how this one looks.
-Well, this ain’t champagne.
-Yeah.
-I’ll grab the front, you grab the rear.
-All right.
Are you ready?
-So is it green enough?
-It’s green. It’s green, man.
I notice you’re a little shocked there.
You didn’t say a lot.
-A little bit. A little bit.
-You’re smiling a little bit.
-He didn’t get in his car and leave yet.
-Yeah. He didn’t leave.
-He didn’t leave.
-That’s a start.
There’s a pretty cool innovation
on the front suspension.
If you watch the headlights,
they actually move with the wheels.
[John] Oh, very cool.
I’ve seen the stuff you guys have built
here and I appreciate you guys’ work.
So, where you at on price?
We’re right around the, uh--
I’d say like 40 grand,
which I know we talked
a little bit less than that.
But I think 40 grand
is giving you a hell of a deal.
Yeah, I mean, you know,
I originally really wanted black, but--
Black wouldn’t do this car justice.
This green really pops on this.
-Why don’t we take it for a test drive?
-Let’s do it. All right.
-Don’t scare him.
-[engine starts]
Look at all the pretty people
looking at the pretty green car.
[John] If they don’t see it,
they’ll hear it first.
Yeah. Loud pipes save lives.
Isn’t that what they say?
Yup. That’s it.
-[John] It runs pretty good, man.
-Yeah.
[Shawn] Tell me he’s smiling.
There’s only one problem I see.
He’s not driving.
-And I want to fix that problem.
-Yet. Yet. [laughs]
How’d you like that?
I liked it. It’s a good ride.
Well, that’s it? Just a good ride?
I see all the detail.
I see everything you guys put into it.
And I’d love to have
something from Gotham Garage,
but I didn’t want to be over 27,500, so--
You know that’s a ton of work.
Every time I look, I see something new
that I didn’t notice at first.
I’ll tell you what I’ll do.
Let’s say I’ll go 33 on it,
but I’m all in at 33.
I’m really thinking we shouldn’t go
any lower than 35, to tell you the truth.
You know
the value is well over 40 for this.
We’re giving you a killer deal.
How about this? I was at 33, you’re at 35.
Meet me in the middle at 34
and we’ll call it a deal.
I’ll drive out of here in this today.
I’m gonna have to shake this man’s hand.
-Thirty-four?
-Thirty-four it is.
-All right.
-You got a deal, my friend.
34,000. Now I’ll tell you
the green is growing on me.
I knew it. I knew it.
I wasn’t gonna tell you earlier, but it--
He was using that for like the hole card.
-He keeps his cards close.
-Waiting for the river.
No, it looks good, man.
It looks really good.
I’m 100 percent happy with the car.
I can’t wait to get in,
have my son jump in the passenger seat
and take off down the street,
hit some shows and enjoy it.
-How about we do a little paperwork?
-Let’s go do a little paperwork.
-That’s a plan.
-I like that. Come on in.
-We got 34 grand for Vicky, right?
-Yeah.
Okay, we spent 23 buying her
and dressing her up.
$11,000 profit after all is said and done,
it’s not bad.
[Tony] The Chevy Fleetside
is out at paint right now.
I chose a color called “galaxy gray.”
And it’s a high-gloss medium gray.
It’s gonna look great
with the polished aluminum.
It’s not too flashy.
It’s really just a classy color,
and this is a classy build.
Not everyone is excited about gray,
but it’s gonna draw you in.
Once you get looking at it, you’re not
gonna be able to walk away from it.
[tools buzzing]
All right.
It looks pretty good.
I’m anxious to see what Mark thinks
about the Fleetside
now that it’s back from paint
and it’s got the custom wheels on it.
It’s a little more conservative
than most of his builds,
but hopefully he sees that it’s got the
right style to trade up to that Zephyr.
The color is growing on me.
I’m not real keen on gray,
but it’s a good color.
-What do you think?
-I think it’s beautiful.
I love the color.
Yeah, so it actually is coming together
pretty well. I’m pretty happy with it.
Thanks, bro. I appreciate that.
[Mark] This is exactly what I was hoping
Tony was gonna do with this truck.
This is one badass ride.
We’re gonna be able to trade this truck
for that Zephyr.
We’re gonna be able to upgrade-and-trade
that Zephyr for about 150K.
And that’s gonna put 80 grand
in our pocket.
I think now we all need to get our hands
on it and just get it dialed and done.
-So we get paid?
-And then get to the money.
-The money?
-Get to the gold.
[Tony] I love how this truck turned out.
It’s got the LS motor
with the stacked fuel injection.
And it was way too pretty
to just close the hood on.
So I added my own touch,
and I put windows in there.
The walnut bed, it looks like
a dance floor. You could eat off of it.
Love it! It looks awesome.
[Constance] Now--
Get outta the way.
I was looking at the truck.
[Tony] One-off custom grille
made right here at Gotham Garage.
One-off wheels.
It’s got the modern interior.
This truck is the total package.
It does look really good.
[Tony] When I saw Mark’s reaction,
I think he was happy with it.
So I’m feeling like he’s on board.
[Mark] The really cool thing
about driving in this type of a truck is,
with this sport suspension,
you are driving a sports car
that has a truck body on it. So, this experience is more like
you’re driving a Corvette
or a Maserati or a Ferrari.
You punch it,
you hit it inside on the curb,
and you come swinging out wide and
you’re looking forward to the next turn,
you set yourself up for it,
and you bank into that turn.
That’s what this truck is about.
Tony did a fabulous job.
This truck turned out rock solid,
ready for a track.
[tires squeal]
[buzzes]
[Shawn] Listen.
I got a little bit of bad news.
The Fleetside-Zephyr deal?
-Mm-hmm?
-No longer available.
How’d you screw that up?
The guy sold it. It was a good deal.
Good deals don’t last long on a shelf.
You know that.
[Mark] Let’s go deliver some news.
Constance, Caveman, Tony.
Uh--
I’ve got some bad news.
The Zephyr deal fell through.
I thought this was a done deal.
Didn’t we have this sewn up?
[Shawn] Nothing’s ever a done deal.
I had him lined up,
and I had him lined up for a while.
This was a deal I was working on forever.
I know we wanted to trade up to this.
This was the last piece to our puzzle
that would’ve got us over
that six-figure build.
How’d it happen?
Somebody came in with cash,
and that’s what I gotta compete with
is these guys with cash.
We’re multiple builds in.
We’ve got a lot invested.
-So much time just working, working…
-Yeah.
…with this carrot dangled out
in front of us.
I feel like the wind’s completely
knocked out of my sails right now.
It sucks that everybody was counting
on the money, but the money’s not there.
So I can understand
why everybody is a little upset about it.
But every now and then,
someone’s gonna pull the carpet out from
under us, and we’re all gonna fall down.
What makes you better is
how fast you pick yourself up
and how far ahead you can move forward.
Here’s the crapshoot of my business model.
If you don’t get the big six-figure payout
at the end,
we have spent weeks and weeks and weeks,
and we are going to get
very little money for it.
But we have an opportunity now
to cash out on the Fleetside.
I’ve actually got a guy
that is willing to buy it outright.
He really likes these kinds of trucks.
He has a truck magazine.
And we’ve been talking about
some pretty strong figures.
-I mean, we’re talking $60,000 plus.
-[Caveman] Sixty?
You gotta remember the ass-busting we did
on the T-Bird we traded for it.
Why wouldn’t we just roll it
into the next big trade?
[Shawn]
Because we don’t have any good trade.
There’s not one today,
but there might be one tomorrow.
There might be one next week.
I don’t know, I just feel like
to get a deal that would be worth
waiting for might take a long time.
We need cash.
We all have our own personal things.
Tony’s got kids.
We have to move on to plan “B.”
We can’t stick on plan “A”
for months and months and months.
I personally think we should wait.
I’m with Mark. I think we should sit on it
and-- and not cash it out.
As long as we can get the right money,
let’s see what kind of price we can get.
I think that I’d be willing to take the
cash for it if it was the right number.
And I think that once he sees it,
that number could change.
[Mark] I know I’m the owner,
but we all share in the profit and loss.
That’s why we vote.
So the majority is gonna rule
on these big decisions
that have a financial impact on this shop.
I guess I’m the tiebreaker here.
What do you wanna do?
I think we should sell it.
I think we have somebody
that’s ready to go, cash in the pocket.
You better not take a dime less
than 60 grand.
Sixty was just a--
a little attention-getter.
If we get 60 grand for this truck,
that puts about 30 grand
in the team’s pocket.
What we do is we hammer it,
and see what kind of price we can get,
and go real big with it.
So I guess we’re out-voted three to two?
Caveman and I are stuck
getting our asses kicked this month.
So, let’s go to work.
Hopefully it works out, right?
Oh, here we go.
[Mark] Here’s our new toy.
[Caveman] Wait a second.
You said you were bringing a truck back.
That is a truck.
Fleetside short bed, Chevy truck.
It’s all there.
Most of it. I think.
-Where?
-I don’t know.
-Here, there.
-And everywhere. Yeah.
I feel like you have a bad habit
of bringing back half cars.
[Mark] I take away shiny [bleep]
and bring back turds, right? We did all that hard work on the T-Bird.
And now you’re gonna do all that same
amount of hard work on this. Exactly.
It’s not, “Here’s a beautiful car.
We’re gonna flip it.”
That doesn’t work. What do you make,
a grand off of that deal? Two grand?
There’s close to 40 grand in parts
sitting there.
These guys are all bitchin’ and moanin’
right now
because we just traded
a badass ’64 Thunderbird…
that was totally custom in chrome
for a bunch of parts.
But this bucket of bolts
is a ’70 Fleetside Chevy truck.
These trucks right now
are so hot on the market it’s ridiculous.
It’s worth twice as much
as that Thunderbird could ever be worth.
We’re talkin’ north of 70 grand.
It’s what we do. We keep trading
until we cash out at the top.
We’re gonna continue following
our upgrade-and-trade business model
-with the Fleetside.
-[cash register dings]
Once we get it fixed up,
we’re gonna trade it
for a 1939 Zephyr body, a very rare car.
We’re gonna sell that car,
hopefully, six figures.
[cash register dings]
[Tony] I guess we gotta figure out
what we have and don’t have.
Well,
herein lies the next little fun game.
I do not wanna figure out
where all these parts go,
nor do I wanna unload them.
I guess the only way to do this
is we’ll just go “rock, paper, scissors,”
and the loser gets to work, and the
rest of us make room for the new project.
Everybody good with that? Ready?
One, two, three.
-[all laughing]
-You lose.
-Wait. Doesn’t rock crush paper?
-No.
-Sorry, buddy.
-Paper covers rock, bro.
That’s what happens when you’re a caveman.
Everybody knows
you’re gonna throw a friggin’ rock.
[laughing]
-We’ll talk to you later.
-Wait a second.
-Really?
-Yeah.
I thought we were a team here!
Thought it was a team effort!
[Mark] You’re the only “I” in team.
[power tools buzz]
[machinery rivets] [engine starts]
It came with this.
Y’all better get to work.
I better get to work.
-I’m out.
-[all laughing]
It’s my job to organize this jigsaw puzzle
in this sea of parts.
I’ve got a badass intake.
Yeah, that is badass.
Whenever you lose in this shop
at “roshambo,”
you know people are gonna ride you like a
donkey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
That’s just how it works here.
Ten, 11, 12…
-Thirty-two.
-Fifteen.
-…thirteen, fourteen…
-Eleven.
-…fifteen.
-Fourteen.
Picture a tornado, and that’s Caveman,
and that’s how he’s gonna go through
these parts, like a friggin’ tornado.
I thought it had a stereo.
Put the stereo back
with the rest of the parts.
What stereo? It’s just a box.
[alarm blares]
[Mark laughing]
[Constance] False alarm. Don’t worry.
Caveman, are you gonna practice
your “rock, paper, scissors” now?
Why?
You know there’s other ones besides rock.
I know. It should be “club.”
So, Caveman,
are you done with that parts list?
-Yeah, I’m all done. I got it all done.
-All right.
Shawn already has somebody on the hook
for the truck.
We wanna trade it for a Zephyr.
And you know how hard Zephyrs are to find.
We all know that that’s like the,
whoo-hoo, Holy Grail of hot rods.
What makes the Zephyr so desirable is
it’s a pre-World War II car.
Hardly any of those survived. It’s exquisite, it’s timeless.
Everything about that car
looks like artwork.
It is the quintessential hot rod.
This car will get us to the massive payday
that we’re looking for.
So, basically,
we got this truck from this guy.
It’s already set up
to be a Pro-Touring truck.
I think on this build,
just because Tony’s a truck guy,
I’m just gonna let him
take the lead on it.
So it’s your baby.
-I like the way that sounds.
-He lights up when you say that.
I really love these Pro-Touring trucks.
It’s basically a sports car underneath
with the look and feel of a classic truck
on the outside.
I will give you
quite a bit of creative freedom.
You’ll be able to do little “Tony-isms.”
There’s a market for this truck.
Right now that market is at its peak.
To get the most value
out of this truck right now in a trade,
it has to be done
the way that world loves that truck.
They have to be very
what they call “sano,”
just sanitary all the way down the side.
Tony is really good
at this type of precision build.
So I’m gonna let him give it that
clean build, but I’m still gonna supervise
to make sure that it has some
subtle Gotham Garage touches,
’cause nothing leaves this shop
without my stamp on it.
You gotta stay within my budget.
-Yeah, I knew that was comin’.
-Yeah.
That’s all right. We always have a budget.
Yeah, and you still gotta come to me
to get money out of my wallet.
[laughing]
Well, let’s just grab all the boxes
and put ’em in the back room.
I want this somewhere safe.
Another shop would take this Fleetside
and just build a generic truck.
They’re gonna open the catalog
and they’re gonna order the same pieces,
the same parts that everyone else has.
That’s not what we do
here at Gotham Garage.
Every vehicle is one-off,
it’s custom, and it’s unique.
And that, in turn, increases the value.
[imitates engine sounds]
[Tony] Hey, you look good in that thing.
I gotta roll it up for air conditioning.
Ah [bleep] The handle fell off.
[Caveman] We’ll walk it this way,
maybe lay it down.
[Tony] That end goes to the cab.
-All right. That was easy.
-It does look better already.
-Yeah.
-Just having a bed on it.
-Those wheels gotta go.
-They look so funny in there.
[Caveman] How about the next big piece?
This Fleetside has to come out amazing.
It’s gotta be worth
at least about 70 grand
to trade up to the Zephyr.
That’s our next tier.
That’s where we have to get to.
[tool buzzing]
Mark gave me a budget of 16,000
for this truck.
[Constance] Now what are you wanting?
We have all that pile of sheet metal stuff
to figure out.
But before I can come up with my vision,
I have to piece it together
and see what we’re working with.
-If we only had some instructions.
-It says “Remove.”
We got one note with the whole project:
“Remove.”
Constance, grab that intake
and see what this looks like.
I thought you’d never ask.
I don’t wanna fail Mark or fail the team,
so I’m feeling the pressure,
and I need to come through for everybody.
[humming Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus”]
[Caveman] She’s getting married.
There’s her ring.
It would just be a shame
to cover all this up.
[Tony] Have to work on some ideas.
Let’s grab that hood
and see what it looks like on here.
-[Caveman] All right, well--
-All right.
What’s the point?
This all needs to go.
[Tony] I think I get it now, you know?
It’s all coming together.
I’m starting to see the vision.
Constance made me realize that the engine
is really like a piece of jewelry.
And the hood,
it should be like a showcase.
We’re gonna cut into the hood
to show off the velocity stacks
in that killer engine department.
And then complement that engine
with other subtle but unique touches
throughout,
like custom mirrors, grille,
seats, and dashboard.
And because it’ll be a badass Pro-Touring
truck, it’ll drive like a race car,
but on the inside we’ll give it
all the modern convenience
of a high-end luxury car.
Hey, as long as you open this up,
I’ll be happy.
It’s like opening a jewelry box.
-You gotta be able to see it.
-Yep.
So I guess from here
we just have to run it by Mark
and try to get his credit card number.
[all laughing]
Let us know how that goes.
Yeah.
You know that wallet’s on a chain, right?
We’re in the middle of the trade cycle
and it’s going to be a few months
before we see a six-figure payday.
So we’re gonna need a quick-flip car so
we can get some cash flow into the shop.
Yeah, I’ve got a--
I’ve got a line on a ’33 Ford Vicky.
Is it a replica?
-It is-- Like we’re gonna buy a real one.
-[Mark laughs]
That’s why I was asking. I’m, like, what?
These upgrade-and-trade projects
can take up to a few months to pan out.
That’s why we do these smaller projects
that we can sell for cash.
It’s cheap
and it’s something we could flip
really quick without doing a ton of work.
It doesn’t tie you up too much
in the shop.
Pay a few bills,
and put some cash in everybody’s pocket.
You’re sure you can
get rid of it pretty quick?
Of course. You put a spin on it.
I mean, not like it is.
Nobody wants it like it is.
But I’ve got a guy that wants an awesome
hot rod from us, and he wants it soon.
Why don’t I talk to this guy
about the Vicky.
-The guy’s not far from here.
-What are you waiting for?
-All right, let’s go. I’ll lead the way.
-Move it, move it.
You might need your phone
if you’re gonna call him.
-That’s not my phone.
-That’s not.
Whose phone is that?
I wonder if it’s got pictures on it.
We’re going see whose phone it is
and what pictures are on it.
[Shawn] It’s my phone.
And I got pictures of your mom on there.
[Mark laughs]
[Mark] So with this Vicky replica build,
if we can get it for about 13K
and put a little bit of work into it,
and then flip it for somewhere
between $27,000 and $30,000,
that’ll be a really good deal.
I’m thinking, if he’s calling me on this,
there’s a good chance that
he’s hurtin’ for a couple of bills.
Well, that’s a plus.
Let’s just say
he’s not in love with Vicky.
[laughs]
[Shawn] A ’33 Ford Vicky replica.
Yes, not the most desirable car
in the world,
but I guess it was at one time.
Yeah, in the early ’90s.
’90, ’92, ’95, somewhere around there.
But then they just got all played out
and disappeared into the woodwork.
-[Mark] How you doing?
-[Shawn] What’s going on?
-[Jack] You guys made it okay?
-Yeah, yeah.
I like what you’ve done with the place.
Here’s my buddy Mark.
-How you doin’?
-How you doin’?
I told him you have
a little something special.
I do. I got it back here
to keep it out of the dust.
-Uh-oh. Here we go.
-There we go. -[Shawn] It looks beautiful. Man.
-[Jack] It’s not too bad.
For a glass car, it’s pretty good.
[Mark] What kind of Chevy motor is that?
-350?
-I believe it’s supposed to be an LT1.
-What kind of tranny?
-I got a 350 turbo.
-Oh, yeah?
-[Shawn] It does run, right?
-Yes.
I see it’s got a battery and a key.
Can I hear it run?
-Wanna fire it up?
-He knows exactly to do with that.
-[Shawn] Okay, let’s--
-Make sure it’s in park, please.
-I don’t want to get run over.
-Brace yourself.
[engine starts]
[Shawn] Oh, my God. It does run.
[Mark] Doesn’t sound too bad.
[Shawn]
When we’re buying a car like the Vicky,
we consider what condition it’s in now
and where we can go with it.
If this was an original Vicky,
people would be all over it.
But it’s a replica and they
made a ton of them in the ’90s,
so they’re a dime a dozen.
But if Mark sees something in a car
that sparks his imagination,
our garage will bend and twist that ride
into something so amazing,
it’ll make your head spin.
Is it like a hairpin rear-end
underneath it?
-I think it’s an A-bar.
-I’ll let him climb under.
You’ll let me get dirty?
The dirtiest Shawn gets is a martini.
This is perfect.
For your shenanigans, this is perfect.
[Shawn] Oh, come on, Jack.
So we talked a little bit on the phone,
and now you wanna try to sell me
this thing for how much again?
I’m asking 15,000.
Yeah, right. Now he thinks
he’s got something valuable here.
Let’s be honest. This is
an eight-grand car. You know that.
Real pretty, but still not enough
to make me want to let it leave.
Let’s cut to it. I’ll go 9,500.
That’s all I’m going.
[Jack] Eleven’s a good deal.
That’s a smokin’ deal.
That’s actually pushing the limits
of where I’m in it, so--
-I’m done.
-No, no, no. Come on.
Jack, you got a deal. Wait. Wait, no, don’t!
I like that. That hand coming across.
I’m good.
You know, eleven wasn’t that bad.
I’m sure we could have had it for ten.
-Ten would have been nice.
-But it still works within our budget.
It totally works for what we need.
We can still flip it.
Maybe we’ll get the grand back
on the back end.
Well, that’s your job.
We’ll send a tow truck to pick it up.
So when they show up, they’ll hook it.
And, Shawn, let’s get back to the shop
and check on the Fleetside.
Thank you, Jack!
So, this is a big-money truck,
and it’s gotta look like big money.
What I’d like to do is cut this hole out
with a piece of Plexiglas underneath,
so you could drive in the rain
or any bad weather, snow.
Nothing will get in there,
but you can still see it.
This Fleetside came with an LS motor
that’s basically complete.
It’s together, it’s ready to run,
so Constance doesn’t really have
a lot of motor work to do on this build.
But there’s a lot of fab work.
We have to build an entire truck.
And that’s what’s great about this shop.
Everybody is very versatile.
Nobody just does one thing.
[motor whirring]
-Perfect.
-Winner, winner.
-It’s a little scary.
-I don’t think so.
[Tony] I mean, there’s no turning back.
Eight holes.
That’s what we’ve done all morning?
Eight perfectly cut-out holes
by yours truly.
No, this is just the beginning.
We’ve got a whole plan here.
That one’s crooked.
I think you’re gonna like it
once it’s all straightened out
and you see the whole plan come together.
This is the most important build
in this shop.
It is our trade-up vehicle.
There’s no reason why this Fleetside build
should go over 16,000.
We have all the parts in the building,
so I’ll be keeping my eye on Tony.
I’ll do it in a pleasant, fun way.
Don’t [bleep] it up.
-Oh, man.
-What?
I’m nervous now.
[whirring]
[Constance] The motor in this Fleetside
is just so badass.
It needs to be shown off.
And I think that putting these holes
in the hood are going to make that happen.
-[Constance] Not too bad, right?
-[Tony] Not too bad.
So do you want me
to let you take this over?
No. You did the first one good.
You’re in the groove.
-But then we can see whose is better.
-You’re in the zone.
All right. I’ll show you how to do it.
Just a little friendly competition,
you know.
-I mean, I don’t know.
-You’re faster than me, Constance.
-There’s no doubt about that.
-Yeah.
But I’m like King Arthur.
This is my Excalibur.
Mine’s good. I mean,
look at how straight these lines are.
-Hey, Caveman!
-Hey, Mark, Caveman!
[Tony]
We got a little bet we have to settle.
[Constance] We’re just wondering
which cutout is better.
-The one on the right.
-This one.
Get outta here!
[Mark laughing]
I’m gonna stay up all night
and I’m just gonna practice my cuts.
Sorry, man.
You’re a pro.
Maybe I should take up motors.
[horn honks]
Hey, Caveman and Tony!
[Tony] All right, back to work, dude.
-Let’s go see what he brought.
-I like that. That’s pretty clean.
Right?
Yeah!
A Vicky.
Even though it’s fiberglass,
it’s pretty cool.
It doesn’t sound like we gotta rebuild
engines and transmissions and…
-[Mark] No. No.
-…mechanical.
[Mark] We’re gonna take 1990’s
right off of it.
I wanna do that cartoon thing to it.
Like gigantic wheels in the back,
little wheels up front.
Give it a big rake,
kick the front end way out on it.
I would like the axle to be in front
of this stress bar up here.
And then this stuff?
We’re just gonna take it off.
-[Caveman] Take it off?
-This goes away.
-Strip it.
-Less is more.
I want to knock off all of the ugly
and get it down to the hot rod that it is.
That in turn will make that car
worth about 27 to 30 grand.
It’s got a lot of potential
with doing just a little bit of stuff.
-Nice. I like it, man.
-Yeah.
You guys get a short little break
from the monster over there. And just get this together,
and let’s get on it and get it done
-and get back on the monster.
-All right.
-All right, Caveman.
-Let’s get it done.
[Mark]
Why we’re stretching the front end out
is because we want to
over-accentuate the lines of the car.
And basically, this is what high heels
do for women and their legs.
So we’ve giving Vicky
some high heels right now.
That area was here.
It needs to be up here.
So any other shop is gonna have to go
and order a standard plate kit.
I’m fortunate because one of
the tools in my toolbox is Tony.
All I have to do is tell him
go make me this.
I don’t have to worry
about what it’s gonna look like.
He’s gonna bring something that came
out of his mind that’s gonna be badass.
[Tony]
I’m one of the tools in your toolbox?
-[Mark] You’re a [bleep] tool.
-I’m not sure that sounded right.
-[man laughing]
-What would you like me to call you?
I want a shirt that has a box
that says “Mark’s Toolbox,”
and then it says “me.”
And then it says “me.” [laughs]
-It’s a little funky looking.
-Yeah.
It’s on.
[tools buzzing]
You guys haven’t seen these yet.
Wait till you see these things.
[groans]
-That looks good.
-That looks pretty badass.
That’s a nice looking wheel.
It’s not a traditional wheel
for this style car or this year car.
-Nope. I’m liking it.
-It’s got a good bold look.
[Tony] Oh, damn!
[Caveman] Whoa!
-How cool is that?
-Damn!
-This is like a steamroller.
-Yeah, it’s--
Wow!
That’s about right where it will sit
ride-height.
I can see the frame,
and it’s below the center of the wheel.
And that’s not good.
I thought this was gonna be an easy one.
Yeah, well, the whole rear end
of the frame needs to be remade.
I just found out that
the oversized wheels that I ordered
make the rear end actually
have to move above the frame
in order for them to work.
Well, you can’t put the axle
above the frame,
so now I have to make the frame
go up about 14 inches,
hoop over and come back down,
which means now I get to fabricate
the entire back half of this frame.
Oh, man. What a nightmare.
So the plan for Vicky in the beginning
was just to make it a modern-day hot rod.
And now, apparently, Vicky decided
that she needed high heels, stockings,
a push-up bra and a boob job.
So basically, in a nutshell,
this has to go here.
-I see a couple things in the way.
-You think?
I’m gonna cut all this out of the way.
And then we can just cut the frame
and the frame,
and then just jam it up
till it’s at the right height.
-Dead center, where it is.
-Yeah.
I guess it’s Sawzall time.
We could ratchet this thing up.
Look at you with your little physics
and your engineering degree
coming to play.
No, man, that’s laziness.
That’s sheer laziness.
[Tony] Mark generally doesn’t compromise
on his vision.
Unfortunately,
this time the 24’s don’t just fit.
This is going to be a lot of extra
sweat equity to make this work.
[Mark] It takes months for
this business model to come to fruition
from when we start to where we end.
We don’t get a big payday until
we get our hands on that six-figure car.
Every minute, every hour,
every day we put into this flip
pushes that Fleetside down the line,
which, in turn,
pushes everything down the line.
-That is so badass.
-I know it is. It’s pretty badass.
[Mark] I’m pretty convinced still
in my mind that this is a solid flip.
I will make more money than I would have
if I wouldn’t have done this, but that’s offset by how much money
I spent on the wheels and tires,
and how much more time it’s taken
to fabricate all of this.
At the end we’ll still get the money
to dump back into the Fleetside
and pay bills around the shop.
Good thing the back windows
don’t roll down
’cause some idiot would put
his arm out there and go--
Yeah. Huh?
Each engine is unique
to whatever build we’re doing.
It’s not always about, you know,
well, how fast can we go?
Well, that works for some builds,
and for other builds
you want just a badass street car.
For this particular build, the engine’s
really the heart and soul of the vehicle
just sitting wide open
for everyone to be able to see.
You can see all the cool copper tubing
that’s happening.
The dual carb set up
is like right there in your face.
The motor for this build I think is
really the centerpiece of the entire car.
[engine revving]
-It actually runs really well.
-Why, thank you.
Too much money got spent on it,
but if I paint it,
it’ll be at the number
it was supposed to be.
What was the final color decision
for this vehicle?
It’s satin black
with a little bit of silver in it.
Oh, okay.
[engine starts]
[Mark] All cars have a way to talk to me.
Um, it’s a not a voice in my head.
It’s just an overwhelming feeling I get
when I’m looking at the car
or I’m driving in the car.
I’m going over in my mind,
what color should I paint it?
What kind of wheels should I put on it?
What’s gonna look the best?
It really is, do I hear a little voice?
No.
But do I know what the car wants to be?
Yes.
Will the car change my mind? Yes.
[Mark whistling]
This is what happens
when you forget the door handles.
-You stuck?
-Hey, can I get out?
-Can I get out? What’s up, brother?
-What is this?
I forgot to put the door handles
on the inside.
-You get all your paint?
-I got all my materials.
But on the way up here I was thinking,
I don’t want to do it flat black.
-No?
-Nope. I want to do green.
-Really?
-And I’m hoping you have some green.
-I have everything here.
-I know you do.
You pretty much have
everything underneath the sun in here.
Pete is the best painter that I know of.
Pete will do anything for Gotham Garage.
He’ll let me borrow his booth when
I need to just do a quick, fast paint job.
Pete’s just that guy.
He’s just a down-to-earth car guy.
-What kind of green?
-Green, green, green.
Like this, the antifreeze green
that’s in this bottle up here.
Uh-huh.
-Like that, but a little darker.
-Right on.
-Guide you in?
-Yeah. I have no mirrors.
-So, it’s just…
-Wah, wah, wah.
…wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Yeah.
[engine starts]
For the grille of the Fleetside,
I wanted to do something real unique.
It’s a little twist
on your standard hex pattern.
-It’s kind of like barbed wire.
-This is nice.
It’s a lot sharper, a little wicked. It’s
definitely got that Gotham Garage touch.
Gonna have to bend this.
[Tony] We’re gonna go ten degrees.
It’s so sharp, I feel like
it’s slicing right through my fingers.
Usually tiny, little slivers like that
don’t like to bend.
All right, ready?
Stop. That’s it.
Those little pieces didn’t do bad.
It’s crazy when Tony does stuff like this
’cause he literally just
fabricates stuff out of nothing.
Go to the car show, you’re never gonna see
another truck that has this same grille.
For the grille, I left a big section to do
a badass Gotham Garage emblem.
With the hood scoop, I think
this whole front end is just-- It pops.
These are the little things, the details
that’s gonna maximize our dollar value
out of the Fleetside.
[engine revving]
[engine revs]
-Whoa.
-Wow. [laughs]
[Caveman] Did not expect that color.
[Mark] Is that better than black, or what?
[Tony] No. Absolutely not. Yeah.
[Constance]
It looks just like mint ice cream.
-Yes.
-It does.
That could not be any louder.
No, it doesn’t get any brighter
than green.
-Copper and green.
-Color of money.
[Tony] That was a bold move, sir.
Bold move.
Yeah.
I figured, hey, it’s a hit or miss, right?
[Tony] This happens sometimes. We’re
in a build and then Mark will go rogue.
And [whistles] different direction.
I don’t know. Sometimes these colors
really narrow down your buyers.
That’ll be interesting to see Shawn’s face
because--
-He probably already told him flat black.
-Yeah.
-“Hi. I got a car.”
-Right?
He’s gonna have a heart attack
when he walks in. I know. He is gonna [bleep] his pants.
[Mark] I know that Shawn told the buyer
that the car was gonna be black.
I fully intended on painting it black
until I went into the paint store
and Vicky said, “green.”
I think that’s an asset.
If the car tells me what it wants to be,
I make it happen.
Hey, Shawn, get out here!
-[Tony] What’s up, buddy?
-[Mark] What’s up, buddy?
The last time I saw this--
[all laughing]
[Mark] He’s pretty dumbfounded.
That is, uh…
-Quite the paint job.
-…not black.
-No, it is not black.
-[Caveman] You’re observant.
-[Mark] No.
-[Shawn] That is green!
-[Mark] That is green.
-[Caveman] No, satin green.
So I’ve got somebody lined up
for a black Vicky. Period.
And for him to actually change up
the color this late in the game,
I mean, that frosts my nuts,
to tell you the truth.
I don’t know if my man John’s
gonna go for that.
If you tell him, “Look, it’s a different
color. It’s not satin black.
But I believe the color that it is, you’re
going to fall in love when you see it.”
You can use that line verbatim.
We’re just gonna have to get him down here
and sell him on it.
That’s all I can say.
[Mark] Vicky was supposed to be
just a quick flip.
Unfortunately, she started talking to me.
She said, “Take me to the dance, make me
be the one everybody wants to dance with.”
It was, put her high heels on.
Twenty-inch front wheels.
That’s a big rim, but they’re dwarfed
by the 24’s in the back.
Next, you gotta give her jewelry.
We put in a high-rise intake manifold
with two carburetors
and a giant shotgun air cleaner
on the top.
Copper on the roof, on the back,
on the front, on the motor.
The overflow is a tequila bottle
so that you can actually see
the green radiator fluid through it.
That’s when I decided
Vicky needed a green dress.
I know when she walks in that door,
every man in the building,
their jaw’s gonna hit the floor.
Bare minimum, we have to get
33 grand to cover all of our expenses
and have enough profit
to get across the finish line.
-[Shawn] Here he is, here.
-[Mark] Oh, there he is. Look at him.
-He’s already in a Ford.
-Oh, yeah.
I notice the car.
It has a little green tint to it.
-Does got a little green tint.
-Got a little green tint.
John. How’s it going?
-Good to see you again, man.
-John, I’m Mark.
-Pleasure to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too.
[Mark] I’m digging your sled.
That’s a frickin’ beautiful car.
-Thank you. ’39 coupe.
-Yeah. That’s a pretty badass ride.
-Got a hint of green in there.
-It does have a little tinge of green.
It looks pretty champagne,
but we’ll see how this one looks.
-Well, this ain’t champagne.
-Yeah.
-I’ll grab the front, you grab the rear.
-All right.
Are you ready?
-So is it green enough?
-It’s green. It’s green, man.
I notice you’re a little shocked there.
You didn’t say a lot.
-A little bit. A little bit.
-You’re smiling a little bit.
-He didn’t get in his car and leave yet.
-Yeah. He didn’t leave.
-He didn’t leave.
-That’s a start.
There’s a pretty cool innovation
on the front suspension.
If you watch the headlights,
they actually move with the wheels.
[John] Oh, very cool.
I’ve seen the stuff you guys have built
here and I appreciate you guys’ work.
So, where you at on price?
We’re right around the, uh--
I’d say like 40 grand,
which I know we talked
a little bit less than that.
But I think 40 grand
is giving you a hell of a deal.
Yeah, I mean, you know,
I originally really wanted black, but--
Black wouldn’t do this car justice.
This green really pops on this.
-Why don’t we take it for a test drive?
-Let’s do it. All right.
-Don’t scare him.
-[engine starts]
Look at all the pretty people
looking at the pretty green car.
[John] If they don’t see it,
they’ll hear it first.
Yeah. Loud pipes save lives.
Isn’t that what they say?
Yup. That’s it.
-[John] It runs pretty good, man.
-Yeah.
[Shawn] Tell me he’s smiling.
There’s only one problem I see.
He’s not driving.
-And I want to fix that problem.
-Yet. Yet. [laughs]
How’d you like that?
I liked it. It’s a good ride.
Well, that’s it? Just a good ride?
I see all the detail.
I see everything you guys put into it.
And I’d love to have
something from Gotham Garage,
but I didn’t want to be over 27,500, so--
You know that’s a ton of work.
Every time I look, I see something new
that I didn’t notice at first.
I’ll tell you what I’ll do.
Let’s say I’ll go 33 on it,
but I’m all in at 33.
I’m really thinking we shouldn’t go
any lower than 35, to tell you the truth.
You know
the value is well over 40 for this.
We’re giving you a killer deal.
How about this? I was at 33, you’re at 35.
Meet me in the middle at 34
and we’ll call it a deal.
I’ll drive out of here in this today.
I’m gonna have to shake this man’s hand.
-Thirty-four?
-Thirty-four it is.
-All right.
-You got a deal, my friend.
34,000. Now I’ll tell you
the green is growing on me.
I knew it. I knew it.
I wasn’t gonna tell you earlier, but it--
He was using that for like the hole card.
-He keeps his cards close.
-Waiting for the river.
No, it looks good, man.
It looks really good.
I’m 100 percent happy with the car.
I can’t wait to get in,
have my son jump in the passenger seat
and take off down the street,
hit some shows and enjoy it.
-How about we do a little paperwork?
-Let’s go do a little paperwork.
-That’s a plan.
-I like that. Come on in.
-We got 34 grand for Vicky, right?
-Yeah.
Okay, we spent 23 buying her
and dressing her up.
$11,000 profit after all is said and done,
it’s not bad.
[Tony] The Chevy Fleetside
is out at paint right now.
I chose a color called “galaxy gray.”
And it’s a high-gloss medium gray.
It’s gonna look great
with the polished aluminum.
It’s not too flashy.
It’s really just a classy color,
and this is a classy build.
Not everyone is excited about gray,
but it’s gonna draw you in.
Once you get looking at it, you’re not
gonna be able to walk away from it.
[tools buzzing]
All right.
It looks pretty good.
I’m anxious to see what Mark thinks
about the Fleetside
now that it’s back from paint
and it’s got the custom wheels on it.
It’s a little more conservative
than most of his builds,
but hopefully he sees that it’s got the
right style to trade up to that Zephyr.
The color is growing on me.
I’m not real keen on gray,
but it’s a good color.
-What do you think?
-I think it’s beautiful.
I love the color.
Yeah, so it actually is coming together
pretty well. I’m pretty happy with it.
Thanks, bro. I appreciate that.
[Mark] This is exactly what I was hoping
Tony was gonna do with this truck.
This is one badass ride.
We’re gonna be able to trade this truck
for that Zephyr.
We’re gonna be able to upgrade-and-trade
that Zephyr for about 150K.
And that’s gonna put 80 grand
in our pocket.
I think now we all need to get our hands
on it and just get it dialed and done.
-So we get paid?
-And then get to the money.
-The money?
-Get to the gold.
[Tony] I love how this truck turned out.
It’s got the LS motor
with the stacked fuel injection.
And it was way too pretty
to just close the hood on.
So I added my own touch,
and I put windows in there.
The walnut bed, it looks like
a dance floor. You could eat off of it.
Love it! It looks awesome.
[Constance] Now--
Get outta the way.
I was looking at the truck.
[Tony] One-off custom grille
made right here at Gotham Garage.
One-off wheels.
It’s got the modern interior.
This truck is the total package.
It does look really good.
[Tony] When I saw Mark’s reaction,
I think he was happy with it.
So I’m feeling like he’s on board.
[Mark] The really cool thing
about driving in this type of a truck is,
with this sport suspension,
you are driving a sports car
that has a truck body on it. So, this experience is more like
you’re driving a Corvette
or a Maserati or a Ferrari.
You punch it,
you hit it inside on the curb,
and you come swinging out wide and
you’re looking forward to the next turn,
you set yourself up for it,
and you bank into that turn.
That’s what this truck is about.
Tony did a fabulous job.
This truck turned out rock solid,
ready for a track.
[tires squeal]
[buzzes]
[Shawn] Listen.
I got a little bit of bad news.
The Fleetside-Zephyr deal?
-Mm-hmm?
-No longer available.
How’d you screw that up?
The guy sold it. It was a good deal.
Good deals don’t last long on a shelf.
You know that.
[Mark] Let’s go deliver some news.
Constance, Caveman, Tony.
Uh--
I’ve got some bad news.
The Zephyr deal fell through.
I thought this was a done deal.
Didn’t we have this sewn up?
[Shawn] Nothing’s ever a done deal.
I had him lined up,
and I had him lined up for a while.
This was a deal I was working on forever.
I know we wanted to trade up to this.
This was the last piece to our puzzle
that would’ve got us over
that six-figure build.
How’d it happen?
Somebody came in with cash,
and that’s what I gotta compete with
is these guys with cash.
We’re multiple builds in.
We’ve got a lot invested.
-So much time just working, working…
-Yeah.
…with this carrot dangled out
in front of us.
I feel like the wind’s completely
knocked out of my sails right now.
It sucks that everybody was counting
on the money, but the money’s not there.
So I can understand
why everybody is a little upset about it.
But every now and then,
someone’s gonna pull the carpet out from
under us, and we’re all gonna fall down.
What makes you better is
how fast you pick yourself up
and how far ahead you can move forward.
Here’s the crapshoot of my business model.
If you don’t get the big six-figure payout
at the end,
we have spent weeks and weeks and weeks,
and we are going to get
very little money for it.
But we have an opportunity now
to cash out on the Fleetside.
I’ve actually got a guy
that is willing to buy it outright.
He really likes these kinds of trucks.
He has a truck magazine.
And we’ve been talking about
some pretty strong figures.
-I mean, we’re talking $60,000 plus.
-[Caveman] Sixty?
You gotta remember the ass-busting we did
on the T-Bird we traded for it.
Why wouldn’t we just roll it
into the next big trade?
[Shawn]
Because we don’t have any good trade.
There’s not one today,
but there might be one tomorrow.
There might be one next week.
I don’t know, I just feel like
to get a deal that would be worth
waiting for might take a long time.
We need cash.
We all have our own personal things.
Tony’s got kids.
We have to move on to plan “B.”
We can’t stick on plan “A”
for months and months and months.
I personally think we should wait.
I’m with Mark. I think we should sit on it
and-- and not cash it out.
As long as we can get the right money,
let’s see what kind of price we can get.
I think that I’d be willing to take the
cash for it if it was the right number.
And I think that once he sees it,
that number could change.
[Mark] I know I’m the owner,
but we all share in the profit and loss.
That’s why we vote.
So the majority is gonna rule
on these big decisions
that have a financial impact on this shop.
I guess I’m the tiebreaker here.
What do you wanna do?
I think we should sell it.
I think we have somebody
that’s ready to go, cash in the pocket.
You better not take a dime less
than 60 grand.
Sixty was just a--
a little attention-getter.
If we get 60 grand for this truck,
that puts about 30 grand
in the team’s pocket.
What we do is we hammer it,
and see what kind of price we can get,
and go real big with it.
So I guess we’re out-voted three to two?
Caveman and I are stuck
getting our asses kicked this month.
So, let’s go to work.
Hopefully it works out, right?